Friday, March 4, 2011

Did You Catch the Fever? Flying Towards the Moon?

In addition to the Peculiar Olympians series, I have to make a confession that can’t wait: I’ve become one of those people who’s fallen for the multi-age, multi-demographic, bi-gendered appeal of the new My Little Pony cartoon, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. My interest is nowhere near as strong as the pony die-hards, and I’m still surprised at what has befallen the internet, but nonetheless, here I am.

It started with this thread on the forums for the Transformers fansite The Allspark. New converts literally hyped this show as Pixar-level and the best show of the new cartoon season, and soon an avalanche started. It was mostly of .gifs, screengrabs, and avatars, but with a lot of earnest episode and toy discussion, too.

Always in the market for a good cartoon, and having a love of bright, colourful objects and the increasing ability to appreciate traditional cuteness, I sampled Friendship is Magic several times, and for a while didn’t quite “get” it. I saw plenty of material for funny image macros, but the show itself seemed like a wafer-thin layer of eccentricity over a stereotypical girls’ cartoon.

But I returned to the show again and again, because it sounded so much like something I would like. Sometimes I felt like an investigator, trying to find out what had made these ponies so exciting to other nerds, and why it didn’t click with me despite my being open to it.

Slowly FiM started creeping up on me, even when I was beginning to feel like it wouldn’t. Before I knew it, it had a lock on me; I feel like I’ve been hypnotized. I started watching out of order, and am still trying to fill in some gaps in my viewing history. The one that really sold me was “The Ticket Master”, which is really odd, because it’s a very standard plot, but the way the characters act out the plot is hilarious.

I now have two Pony figures on my desk; one tiny PVC, and one slightly larger one with hair. Both represent the same character, the very unfortunately-named Twilight Sparkle. She’s the nominal protagonist of Friendship is Magic, a bookish, serious unicorn pony. She was the obvious choice.

However, I don’t feel that Friendship is Magic quite lives up to the hype. I really want to see this show as being on the level of the illustrious things it’s been compared to, and start of a renaissance for girls’ animation, but I just can’ t.

One reason is that no matter how quirky and fun it can be, this show still indulges in a lot of explicit moralizing. Twilight is often seen writing seen writing notes to
her mentor Princess Celestia about what she learned about friendship in the episode, and when she isn’t, the morals of the episode are pretty explicit anyway. There are no PSAs at the end, but there’s just about it.

The fact that it’s the girls’ cartoon that’s indulging in the transparent moralizing says a lot, and none of it good. Perhaps there is a feeling that girls are in more need of being taught virtues, or that animation targeted to girls remains stuck in a bygone era, while the rest of the cartoon world is now more apt to make fun of explicit moralizing.

I shouldn’t be surprised, given the series’ subtitle and that it’s a My Little Pony show, but explicit moralizing in stories is something I just don’t like. Most stories do indeed take moral stances, but such stances are made clear through the events of the story, without stopping to talk about it.

Secondly, the show is episodic. Episodic shows aren’t a bad thing in themselves, but when the series is held up as something groundbreaking, to see it episodic just reminds me that most girls’ shows are like that. There is a definite double standard involved when nerds of both genders much more easily accept boys’ properties to follow, but one aspect is that boys’ properties more often try for some kind of story arc and overreaching mythology (usually failing until recently), or are more likely to have a subversive sense of humour. Many cartoons that challenge the possibilities of American animation (in a certain way), while they may come up with great female characters, are also targeted to boys.

So the reason I feel a bit guilty about enjoying Friendship is Magic is that it seems in a weird way like supporting that dichotomy, that boy’s cartoons are not only more violent, but they’re also more developed. It’s the same reason I feel a bit odd for enjoying Monster High which is also subject to similar claims of mould-breaking that I don’t entirely agree with.

Yet this is the best set of explanations for why I find Friendship is Magic to be a guilty pleasure, even though I’m not the Internet Tough Guy who finds himself squeeing over ponies. (I’m not even male!)

If this is all true, than what does Friendship is Magic have? Well, you can’t underestimate the desire to give an A for effort. Friendship is Magic may not completely tear down the wall for girls’ cartoons, but it does do it, and in such a wasteland, effort should be rewarded. In the same vein, nor can you dismiss the fact that it’s much less treacly than you would expect from an MLP cartoon.

In fact, it’s not that treacly, period. Everything I’ve said about the moralizing is still true, but much of the rest of the cartoon feels very natural, very normal. The series is not trying too hard to present itself as sweet or nice. It certainly is, but in a very organic way that won’t make your teeth rot.

The animation is pretty to look at, with a lot of appealing character design and fluid movement, and I’m still fond of animation that uses simplistic character designs but gives them weight and depth. There’s also some hilarious slapstick and wonderful comic timing.

As others have mentioned, the main pony characters all have distinct personalities, and the characterization is pretty good. I’d hesitate to call them “multifaceted” as some are doing, but you could never mistake one pony for another.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is also earnest. I do have a love of fourth-wall-breaking humour and snarky lampshade hanging, but it’s oversaturated, with only the greatest of the greatest shows being able to keeping pulling off this kind of mockery well. FiM doesn’t keep winking at the audience, or try to be hip and self-aware. It just presents itself as it is, which is very nice.